Thompson v. Warren

United States District Court, D. New Jersey

May 26, 2015

RICHARD THOMPSON, Plaintiff,v.CHARLES WARREN, et al., Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

DOUGLAS E. ARPERT, Magistrate Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on three Motions: (1) a Motion by Plaintiff for an Order compelling Defendants to respond to Plaintiff's Interrogatories [Dkt. No. 59]; (2) a Cross-Motion by Defendants requesting a stay of discovery pending the resolution of Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and Summary Judgment (the "Dispositive Motion")[1] [Dkt. No. 62]; and (3) a Motion by Plaintiff to modify the Scheduling Order entered by the Court on August 11, 2014 [Dkt. No. 68]. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiff's Motion to compel [Dkt. No. 59] is GRANTED, Defendants' Motion to stay discovery [Dkt. No. 62] is DENIED and Plaintiff's Motion to modify the Scheduling Order [Dkt. No. 68] is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Pro se Plaintiff Richard Thompson filed his Complaint on April 30, 2014 asserting six causes of action against employees and officials of the New Jersey Department of Corrections ("DOC") [Dkt. No. 1]. Plaintiff claims several violations of his federal constitutional rights during his time in the custody of the DOC. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that in retaliation for assisting a fellow prisoner in the preparation of a lawsuit against DOC employees, he was deprived of his job assignment and placed in administrative detention in violation of New Jersey law and his First, Fourteenth and Eighth Amendment rights.

As relevant to the present Motions, Plaintiff claims that on August 9, 2014, he served interrogatories on Defendants Nelson, D'Amico, Mendez, Dutch, Packard and Jimenez through their counsel. Dkt. No. 59 at ¶ 1-2. On October 3, 2014, Plaintiff received a letter from Defendants' counsel requesting Plaintiff's consent to an extension of time for Defendants to respond to Plaintiff's interrogatories to October 22, 2014, to which Plaintiff agreed. Id. at ¶ 5. On October 8, 2015, Plaintiff served interrogatories on Defendant Barnes through his counsel. Id. at ¶ 8. Plaintiff claims he has not received responses to any of the interrogatories served on Defendants. Accordingly, Plaintiff seeks an Order compelling Defendants Nelson, D'Amico, Mendez, Dutch, Packard, Jimenez and Barnes to respond to the interrogatories. See Dkt. No. 59. In response to Plaintiff's Motion to compel, Defendants filed a Cross-Motion requesting a stay of discovery pending disposition of Defendants' Dispositive Motion. See Dkt. No. 62. In addition, Plaintiff requests the entry of an Amended Scheduling Order extending the deadline for discovery, which pursuant to the Court's Scheduling Order entered on August 11, 2014, was to be concluded by February 11, 2015. See Dkt. No. 68.

II. DISCUSSION

It is well established that the scope of discovery in federal litigation is broad. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party's claim or defense. Id .; see also Pearson v. Miller, 211 F.3d 57, 65 (3d Cir. 2000). Moreover, information sought by the parties need not be admissible at trial if it is "reasonably calculated" to lead to discovery of admissible evidence. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26.

While the scope of discovery is undoubtedly broad, the Federal Rules also provide that a Court "must limit the frequency or extent of discovery otherwise allowed" if it concludes that:

(1) the discovery sought is cumulative or duplicative, or can be obtained from some other source that is more convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive; (2) the party seeking discovery has had ample opportunity to obtain the information by discovery in the action; or (3) the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26. Further, "the Court has a responsibility to protect privacy and confidentiality interests" and "has authority to fashion a set of limitations that allow as much relevant material to be discovered as possible... while preventing unnecessary intrusions into legitimate interests that may be harmed by the discovery of material sought." Schmulovich v. 1161 Rt. 9 LLC, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59705, at *3-4 (D.N.J. 2007); see also Pearson, 211 F.3d at 65; Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c).

Rule 37(a) allows a party to file a motion to compel discovery where the opposing party fails to respond adequately to a document request propounded pursuant to Rule 34. Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(3)(B)(iv). Ultimately, it is within the discretion of the Court to grant a motion to compel disclosure for good cause shown. In re Cendant Corp. Sec. Litig., 343 F.3d 658, 661 (3d Cir. 2003).

In response to Plaintiff's Motion to compel, Defendants filed a Cross-Motion requesting a stay of discovery pending disposition of Defendants' Dispositive Motion. Defendants do not argue that they have provided responses to Plaintiff's interrogatories or object to Plaintiff's interrogatories. Instead, Defendants assert that the Court's decision on their pending Dispositive Motion may obviate the need for discovery.

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), the Court may stay discovery pending determination of a dispositive motion only on a showing of "good cause" by the party requesting the stay. Gerald Chamales Corp. v. Oki Data Americas, Inc., et al., 247 F.R.D. 453, 454 (D.N.J. Dec.11, 2007) ("A protective order pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c) may only be issued if good cause' is shown."); Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c)(1) (establishing that the court may issue a protective order with respect to discovery only for "good cause"); see Perelman v. Perelman, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85470, at *2-3, 2011 WL 3330376 (E.D.Pa. Aug. 3, 2011) ("The burden is on the party seeking the stay [of discovery] to show good cause.'") (citations omitted). It is well settled that "the mere filing of a dispositive motion does not constitute good cause' for the issuance of a discovery stay." Chamales, 247 F.R.D. at 454.

In the present case, Defendants argue that their Dispositive Motion "has a substantial basis in law and would lead to dismissal of the [C]omplaint in its entirety, which in turn would render unnecessary any and all responses to [Plaintiff's] interrogatories." Dkt. No. 62 at p. 2. Defendants contend that Plaintiff will not be "unduly prejudiced by a stay of discovery" and that the resolution of Defendants' pending Dispositive Motion "will serve to narrow or outright eliminate the need for further discovery." Id. at p. 4-6. Although Defendants submit that if the Court grants their Dispositive Motion, "the time and expense spend in providing responses from seven parties to Plaintiff's ...

Our website includes the first part of the main text of the court's opinion.
To read the entire case, you must purchase the decision for download. With purchase,
you also receive any available docket numbers, case citations or footnotes, dissents
and concurrences that accompany the decision.
Docket numbers and/or citations allow you to research a case further or to use a case in a
legal proceeding. Footnotes (if any) include details of the court's decision. If the document contains a simple affirmation or denial without discussion,
there may not be additional text.

Buy This Entire Record For
$7.95

Download the entire decision to receive the complete text, official citation,
docket number, dissents and concurrences, and footnotes for this case.